The Presidency has dismissed a widely shared claim that President Bola Tinubu borrowed N120 trillion in his first three years in office, insisting that most of the increase in Nigeria’s headline debt figure came from loans inherited from the previous administration and the effect of the naira’s devaluation, not from fresh borrowing.
The rebuttal, issued on Sunday by Dada Olusegun, Special Assistant to the President on Social Media, comes as public debt becomes one of the sharpest lines of attack in the 2027 presidential campaign. According to The Sun and Naija News, Olusegun described the viral figures as misleading and accused opposition groups of using them to sway voters.
What the viral claim said
The claim circulated as a graphic on social media. It suggested that 16 Nigerian leaders together borrowed about N46 trillion over 63 years, while President Tinubu alone piled up N120 trillion in three years.
Fact Check Africa, which reviewed the graphic on Saturday, rated it “misleading”. The fact-checking organisation noted that the N46 trillion figure is Nigeria’s total public debt stock as of 31 December 2022, as published by the Debt Management Office (DMO), and not the sum of what each leader borrowed since independence.
It also pointed out that changes in the size of the debt stock include exchange rate effects and the formal recognition of existing liabilities, so the difference between two debt figures cannot on its own be treated as new borrowing.
The Presidency’s explanation
In his statement, Olusegun argued that the N46 trillion debt figure for end-2022 left out N22.7 trillion in Ways and Means advances, the overdraft the Central Bank of Nigeria extended to the federal government under the previous administration. That sum, he said, was only formally recognised as part of public debt in May 2023.
He added that earlier debt calculations converted foreign loans at the official rate of about N448 to the dollar, even though the parallel market rate was above N700 at the time. When the exchange rate was unified in June 2023, he said, the naira value of existing foreign debt rose by about N13.4 trillion on paper, without any new loan being taken.
Measured in dollars, the Presidency said, Nigeria’s public debt rose from $113.4 billion in June 2023 to $120.9 billion in June 2026, an increase of about $7.5 billion over three years. Olusegun also highlighted the growth in federal allocations to states and local governments through FAAC, which he said rose from N656 billion in April 2023 to N2.4 trillion in September 2026.
What the official figures show
DMO data cited by several outlets put Nigeria’s total public debt at about N87.38 trillion in June 2023, shortly after Tinubu took office. By June 2026 the figure had climbed to about N166.79 trillion, according to the same data.
That is an increase of roughly N79 trillion in naira terms, well short of the N120 trillion in the viral graphic, but still a near doubling of the debt stock. Supporters of the government say the naira’s sharp fall explains much of the rise, while critics argue that the cost of servicing that debt is now squeezing spending on health, education and infrastructure.
The debate is also not entirely settled within the government’s own messaging. In a separate rebuttal of opposition debt claims in June, the Presidency cited lower dollar figures than those in Sunday’s statement, a difference that analysts say reflects changing data points and definitions.
Borrowing remains a campaign flashpoint
The statement comes days after President Tinubu asked the Senate to approve a $7.7 billion external loan, about N10.79 trillion at the 2026 budget exchange rate of N1,400 to the dollar. According to reports, the request replaced an earlier, larger plan that included $20.52 billion and €1.045 billion in foreign borrowing.
Opposition candidates have made debt a central theme. NDC presidential candidate Peter Obi has repeatedly demanded an account of loans taken since 2023 and savings from the removal of the petrol subsidy, while ADC’s Atiku Abubakar has also criticised the government’s borrowing and economic policies. Nigeria Info reported that the Presidency’s latest statement followed criticism from both men.
What happens next
The Senate is expected to consider the $7.7 billion loan request in the coming weeks, which is likely to keep the debt question in the headlines. The DMO’s next quarterly debt report, covering the third quarter of 2026, will also offer a fresh test of the competing claims.
With the 2027 general election approaching, voters can expect both sides to keep trading figures. Economists say the most useful measures to watch are debt service as a share of revenue and the dollar value of the debt, rather than headline naira totals that move with the exchange rate.
Sources: The Sun, Naija News, Nigeria Info, Fact Check Africa, Debt Management Office data.
